Tuesday, February 17, 2009

New Financial Scandal May Ensare Texas Sen. John Cornyn

As we noted in the previous post, the Securities and Exchange Commission today went after Texas financier Allen Stanford.

Now we learn that Stanford was well connected in Texas. Here's a posting from TPMmuckraker that sheds light on Stanford's political pals, including Republican John Cornyn.

So we already knew that Allen Stanford -- the Texas banker charged by the SEC today with running an $8 billion "fraud of shocking magnitude" -- had some pretty impressive political contacts with both parties.

But it looks like his relationship with one of his home-state senators, Republican John Cornyn, may have been especially cozy.

According to Cornyn's Senate disclosure reports-- posted on the site Legistorm.com, which tracks privately financed trips by members of Congress -- the Stanford Financial Group paid for the Texas senator and an unnamed companion to take a November 2004 trip down to Antigua and Barbuda, the tiny Caribbean nation where the company has its headquarters.